Tab Benoit w/ Whiskey Bayou Review

Tuesday, July 9thShow at 9 PM (Doors at 8:30) Tab Benoit w/ Whiskey Bayou ReviewYou’ve tried the rest, now try the best! Tab Benoit’s amazing new Medicine, 100% pure musical snake-oil. A melodic potion that provides immediate and satisfying relief for all aches and pain. Benoit’s Medicine is a guaranteed cure for heartache. It’s the genuine article this Medicine is for whatever ails you.

Medicine, Benoit’s seventh solo release on Telarc International, a division of Concord Music Group, successfully joins two gifted guitarists/songwriters in a session that proves greater than the sum of its very talented parts. Set for April 26, 2011 release, the 11-track recording features seven new Benoit originals co-written with ace songwriter Anders Osborne (his song “Watch the Wind Blow By” was recorded by Tim McGraw in 2002, hitting No. 1 on the country charts for two weeks and selling over three million albums, and Keb’ Mo’s 1999 GRAMMY-winning album Slow Down, featured two songs he had co-written).

In an unusual twist, Osborne (who also co-produced the album) uses B.B. King’s famous guitar ‘Lucille’ on Medicine. “He played half the album on that guitar, basically anything that’s not slide guitar,” Benoit says.

Medicine showcases a lean, energetic young band, and vibe-wise it’s hipper and groovier than anything Benoit has ever done before. The recording also spotlights the work of keyboardist Ivan Neville (son of Aaron Neville and nephew to members of the Neville Brothers), drummer Brady Blade (Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Dave Matthews) and bassist Corey Duplechin (Chubby Carrier & Bayou Swamp Band). Fiddler/singer Michael Doucet of BeauSoleil makes a special appearance on three tracks.

Benoit’s blazing guitar kicks off the title track of the recording. ‘Medicine’ captures what this album is all about, he says. “Let music be the medicine. Like John Lee Hooker once said, Blues is the healer.”

Tab Benoit is Louisiana’s No. 1 roots export. More than just an acclaimed bluesman, he is an indefatigable conservation advocate. Benoit is a driving force behind Voice of the Wetlands, an organization working to save Louisiana’s wetlands. In 2010, he received the Governor’s Award for Conservationist of the Year from the Louisiana Wildlife Federation. Benoit also starred in the iMax motion picture Hurricane on the Bayou, a documentary of Hurricane Katrina’s effects and a call to restore the wetlands.

In 2007, Benoit won the dual awards of B.B. King Entertainer of the Year and Best Contemporary Male Performer at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis (formerly the W.C. Handy Awards). In 2006, he received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album for Brother to the Blues, a collaboration with Louisiana’s LeRoux. LeRoux joined Benoit on Power of the Pontchartrain in 2007 and the live Night Train to Nashville in 2008.

Medicine is more than another strong entry in Benoit’s increasingly impressive discography it’s one of his most defining albums. ‘Magic happens when you least expect it,’ says Benoit. ‘Most of the stuff here was played live ~ these are mostly first takes. When it came down to playing, we weren’t trying to structure things. We were open to the moment.’

If music has the power to help relieve pain and suffering, then Tab Benoit’s Medicine might be just what the doctor ordered.